You may earn a maximum of 3 points toward your final grade by doing the above and answering the questions and submitting them on time (no later than Sunday, February 25 on or before 12:01am). Any worksheets submitted after the deadline will get a 0. You will be rewarded a maximum of 3 points if I judge your work to be above average. You will receive 2 points if your work is average, that is it may have a few minor mistakes in some of the answers but demonstrates correct grammar and indicates that some, but not all, of the answers, are acceptable and well expressed. You will earn only 1 point if you simply answered the questions and/or if you use poor grammar and if there are signs that you have not read the material on which your answers are based.
1. Describe the stasis in the play: where, when, who, what, etc. in a paragraph.
The stasis involves the main character Lil Bit, who tells the audience her when she is an adult, but a lot of the events occurring in the play happen when she was younger as she is looking back on those memories. The opening scene is in Maryland, on a hot summer night in a car with her uncle Peck. She is 17 at the time and is primarily in her teenage years in all the other stories she tells. Uncle Peck, who isn’t a blood relative of Lil Bit, is the other main character in this play, who is a child abuser and molester to Lil Bit and other family members. Other characters include Lil Bits mom, grandfather, grandmother, aunt Mary, and a boy that Peck also molests.
2. What is the intrusion?
The intrusion of this play is when Lil Bit goes to college. She has escaped from his clutches and finally there is something different than the constant cycle of abuse done by her uncle. When the audience is told about this scene, it shoots the entire story forward and lets us realize that she is a victim of sexual abuse and grooming, and we begin to get insight on the relationship between her and her uncle, as we will continue to see over the course of the play how when she goes to college, it lets her escape the man who caused great emotional conflict into her.
3. What is the unique factor?
The unique factor is that this is the day and time that Lil Bit, as an adult now, decides to reminisce on her past childhood events and tells the audience her story. She wants to tell her story from her point of view because everything that has happened to her has caused her to question her identity, relationships, and love for a man who abused her.
4. What is the dramatic question that should be answered by the end of the play?
The dramatic questions that should be answered are: How will Lil Bit come to terms with the abuse and incest that was rampant in her childhood? Will she be able to trust men or form normal relationships now, in spite of her own uncle abusing her? How has the freedom of being able to drive become a silver lining through all this?
5. Provide an illustration of the two kinds of exposition that the play has in it.
Only Lil Bit knows: Lil Bit is the only one, other than Peck who drank himself to death after she got to college, who knows the extent of her relationship with Peck, and the mixed feelings she had with him as she flirted and felt like she loved him, but at the same time maybe thought something was wrong because this isn’t a normal thing for her uncle to do. But, it illustrates that her uncle actually taught her something good: the freedom to drive away, which symbolically shows that in the end she moved on from her past and “drove” onto the new, better chapter of her life.
Other people know: Lil Bit’s family was not there to protect her and teach her the right life lessons. They made it seem like her body was more important than her intellect, and that she should either be very sexually liberated or be super modest and conservative, as her mom and grandmother argued over what was right and wrong.
6. Identify the most theatrical moment in the play and of what importance it seems to be.
The most theatrical moment is when Lil Bit meets with Peck at the hotel after returning from college, so he proposes to her and confesses his pouring love into her. She has confusion at first, and thinks about staying with him, but then doesn’t do it and ends up leaving. This is the turning point when she realizes she must stay away and she has her own life to live.
7. List some of the themes of the play.
Some themes include self-identity, incest, sexual abuse, family and freedom, pedophilia, and misogyny.
8. Choose the character of Li'l Bit in the show and articulate what she wants and what are some obstacles that stand in the way of her getting what she wants?
Lil Bit is bullied at school for having a large chest, and because of that she just wants to feel wanted and have attention for something good. When Peck takes advantage of her, she takes this a reason that she can finally not feel isolated, even if Peck isn’t her age. Another want is that she wants to go to college, but a main obstacle is that her family thinks that she doesn’t need to be intelligent and is only here to serve for her future husband and look good for him. Also, Peck doesn’t want her to leave, so that is another obstacle because he wants her only for himself in a very selfish reason.
9. Describe some possible images in the play and how does the title help us understand the play.
The car is the most symbolic image in the play. Even through all the abuse and molestation, she states that Peck taught her one good thing out of all this: the freedom that comes with driving alone. Their relationship compares to how one person learns to drive, especially with the drives she and Peck took alone privately. Peck says it’s important to be in control of one’s own life, so Lil Bit uses this advice to finally become independent from all the events in her childhood and all the confusion she had with the relationship she had with her pedophile uncle. The car is an image that if you’re alone in it, you can go wherever you want, as far away as you want. In her case, as she goes to college and later on in life is symbolically driving in her car, it shows that she is going away and moving on onto bigger and better things in her life, wherever those may be, far away.
10. Briefly define the family relationships that are examined in the play.
This whole play is really about family relationships, as most American plays are about as well. Lil Bit’s and Peck’s relationship is filled with incest, molestation, and pervasive sexual abuse. She feels isolated from her peers and her other family members who don’t act as if they care about her at all. Because of this, Peck is able to take advantage of her loneliness and grooms her in a toxic relationship. He even proposes to her because he wants her more than his own wife, Aunt Mary, and does anything he can to obsessively have her under his control. This also shows another aspect of family relationships which is that women, especially in that family, were only regarded in their sense to be a good wife for their husbands, or male figure in general.
You will be rewarded a maximum of 3 points if I judge your work to be above average. You will receive 2 points if your work is average, that is it may have a few minor mistakes in some of the answers but demonstrates correct grammar and indicates that some, but not all, of the answers, are acceptable and well expressed. You will earn only 1 point if you simply answered the questions and/or if you use poor grammar and if there are signs that you have not read the material on which your answers are based.
1. Describe the stasis in the play: where, when, who, what, etc. in a paragraph.
The stasis involves the main character Lil Bit, who tells the audience her when she is an adult, but a lot of the events occurring in the play happen when she was younger as she is looking back on those memories. The opening scene is in Maryland, on a hot summer night in a car with her uncle Peck. She is 17 at the time and is primarily in her teenage years in all the other stories she tells. Uncle Peck, who isn’t a blood relative of Lil Bit, is the other main character in this play, who is a child abuser and molester to Lil Bit and other family members. Other characters include Lil Bits mom, grandfather, grandmother, aunt Mary, and a boy that Peck also molests.
2. What is the intrusion?
The intrusion of this play is when Lil Bit goes to college. She has escaped from his clutches and finally there is something different than the constant cycle of abuse done by her uncle. When the audience is told about this scene, it shoots the entire story forward and lets us realize that she is a victim of sexual abuse and grooming, and we begin to get insight on the relationship between her and her uncle, as we will continue to see over the course of the play how when she goes to college, it lets her escape the man who caused great emotional conflict into her.
3. What is the unique factor?
The unique factor is that this is the day and time that Lil Bit, as an adult now, decides to reminisce on her past childhood events and tells the audience her story. She wants to tell her story from her point of view because everything that has happened to her has caused her to question her identity, relationships, and love for a man who abused her.
4. What is the dramatic question that should be answered by the end of the play?
The dramatic questions that should be answered are: How will Lil Bit come to terms with the abuse and incest that was rampant in her childhood? Will she be able to trust men or form normal relationships now, in spite of her own uncle abusing her? How has the freedom of being able to drive become a silver lining through all this?
5. Provide an illustration of the two kinds of exposition that the play has in it.
Only Lil Bit knows: Lil Bit is the only one, other than Peck who drank himself to death after she got to college, who knows the extent of her relationship with Peck, and the mixed feelings she had with him as she flirted and felt like she loved him, but at the same time maybe thought something was wrong because this isn’t a normal thing for her uncle to do. But, it illustrates that her uncle actually taught her something good: the freedom to drive away, which symbolically shows that in the end she moved on from her past and “drove” onto the new, better chapter of her life.
Other people know: Lil Bit’s family was not there to protect her and teach her the right life lessons. They made it seem like her body was more important than her intellect, and that she should either be very sexually liberated or be super modest and conservative, as her mom and grandmother argued over what was right and wrong.
6. Identify the most theatrical moment in the play and of what importance it seems to be.
The most theatrical moment is when Lil Bit meets with Peck at the hotel after returning from college, so he proposes to her and confesses his pouring love into her. She has confusion at first, and thinks about staying with him, but then doesn’t do it and ends up leaving. This is the turning point when she realizes she must stay away and she has her own life to live.
7. List some of the themes of the play.
Some themes include self-identity, incest, sexual abuse, family and freedom, pedophilia, and misogyny.
8. Choose the character of Li'l Bit in the show and articulate what she wants and what are some obstacles that stand in the way of her getting what she wants?
Lil Bit is bullied at school for having a large chest, and because of that she just wants to feel wanted and have attention for something good. When Peck takes advantage of her, she takes this a reason that she can finally not feel isolated, even if Peck isn’t her age. Another want is that she wants to go to college, but a main obstacle is that her family thinks that she doesn’t need to be intelligent and is only here to serve for her future husband and look good for him. Also, Peck doesn’t want her to leave, so that is another obstacle because he wants her only for himself in a very selfish reason.
9. Describe some possible images in the play and how does the title help us understand the play.
The car is the most symbolic image in the play. Even through all the abuse and molestation, she states that Peck taught her one good thing out of all this: the freedom that comes with driving alone. Their relationship compares to how one person learns to drive, especially with the drives she and Peck took alone privately. Peck says it’s important to be in control of one’s own life, so Lil Bit uses this advice to finally become independent from all the events in her childhood and all the confusion she had with the relationship she had with her pedophile uncle. The car is an image that if you’re alone in it, you can go wherever you want, as far away as you want. In her case, as she goes to college and later on in life is symbolically driving in her car, it shows that she is going away and moving on onto bigger and better things in her life, wherever those may be, far away.
10. Briefly define the family relationships that are examined in the play.
This whole play is really about family relationships, as most American plays are about as well. Lil Bit’s and Peck’s relationship is filled with incest, molestation, and pervasive sexual abuse. She feels isolated from her peers and her other family members who don’t act as if they care about her at all. Because of this, Peck is able to take advantage of her loneliness and grooms her in a toxic relationship. He even proposes to her because he wants her more than his own wife, Aunt Mary, and does anything he can to obsessively have her under his control. This also shows another aspect of family relationships which is that women, especially in that family, were only regarded in their sense to be a good wife for their husbands, or male figure in general.